Online Casino Ban Wording Dropped by Republican Party Platform

Republicans had allowed citizens to sign on to the platform site and express views, and the response to the two sentences condemning online gambling were overwhelmingly in favor of striking the clause.

Online casinos and gambling patrons everywhere scored a jackpot Tuesday when the Republican Party announced plans to drop language from its platform calling for a ban on Internet gambling. A write-in campaign pushed by the Poker Players Alliance had informed party officials of the vast number of loyal Republicans who strongly disagreed with the expressed stance of the party.

Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolinian who is co-chairman of the platform committee, said the move was made to widen the party's appeal to more voters. Obviously, the point that a ban on Internet wagering is not something the voters were behind reached the ears of Republican strategists.

An independent voter in Florida said when questioned about the move, "That makes one less issue I disagree with the Republicans on. If they look like the party most likely to stay out of my life and house, then that's the way I would vote."

Republicans had allowed citizens to sign on to the platform site and express views, and the response to the two sentences condemning online gambling were overwhelmingly in favor of striking the clause, if not adding one in favor of regulation and legalization.

Burr allowed for a possible backlash from the radical fringe of the party that comprises the Religious Right, saying an amendment re-instituting the call against online casinos may yet be passed; but party strategists, aiming at showing a centrist appeal to voters, are unlikely to accommodate those far from mainstream thinking.